Washington: The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered SpaceX to conduct a “mishap investigation” involving the Super Heavy booster during the 12th flight test of its giant Starship rocket.
In a statement on Wednesday (local time), the FAA said it had determined that the flight test on Friday resulted in a mishap during the booster’s return flight over the Gulf of Mexico following stage separation.
The agency said it will oversee the process and approve SpaceX’s final report and any corrective actions.
According to the FAA, a mishap investigation is intended to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective measures to prevent a recurrence, reports Xinhua news agency.
The agency said that a return to flight for the Starship Super Heavy booster will depend on the FAA determining that no system, process, or procedure related to the mishap poses a threat to public safety.
No injuries or damage to public property were reported following the incident, the FAA said.
Starship lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in the US state of Texas at 5:30 p.m. Central Time (2230 GMT) last Friday (May 22).
All 33 Raptor 3 engines on the Super Heavy booster ignited successfully at liftoff. However, one engine shut down prematurely during ascent. Following a successful first-stage ascent, Starship’s upper stage ignited its six Raptor engines during the hot-staging manoeuvre and continued toward space, according to SpaceX.
After stage separation, the Super Heavy booster carried out a directional flip manoeuvre and attempted its boostback burn. However, not all planned engines ignited, resulting in only a partial boostback burn before the manoeuvre terminated prematurely.
The booster later attempted to reignite its engines for the landing burn before making a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Starship upper stage successfully entered its planned coast phase despite the loss of one of its six engines. SpaceX said the vehicle demonstrated its engine-out capability and still achieved its intended trajectory.
During the coast phase, Starship deployed 20 Starlink simulators and two modified Starlink satellites designed to capture imagery of the vehicle in flight.
The two modified satellites transmitted images of Starship’s thermal protection system back to mission controllers. All 22 payloads remained on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and were expected to burn up during atmospheric reentry.
About one hour after liftoff, Starship re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and collected critical data on the performance of its heatshield and structural strength during reentry, according to SpaceX.
In the final minutes of flight, Starship carried out a manoeuvre designed to test the structural limits of its rear flaps, along with a dynamic banking manoeuvre intended to simulate the trajectory of future missions returning to Starbase.
Starship later splashed down in the Indian Ocean as planned. According to SpaceX, the vehicle successfully completed its landing flip manoeuvre and landing burn with two functioning Raptor engines before splashdown.
The mission marked the first flight of the next-generation Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster, featuring upgraded Raptor engines and a newly designed launch pad at Starbase.
According to SpaceX, the primary objective of the test flight was to evaluate for the first time the performance of the upgraded vehicle, its propulsion system and ground infrastructure in a real-flight environment.
The launch attempt originally scheduled for May 21 was scrubbed due to a technical issue. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said a hydraulic pin holding the launch tower arm in place failed to retract as planned.
Starship is slated to serve as the lunar landing system for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon and lay the groundwork for future human missions to Mars.
–IANS
